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In the design practice simulation methods are already widely used to support the understanding of energy performance and to help designers in reducing energy demand during the design process. However, energy simulation tools are largely limited to the individual building level, and urban microclimate conditions andvariations in local wind, solar radiation, and air temperature patterns in which buildings express their energy performance are largely overlooked. In order to include microclimatic data in the computation of space cooling and heating consumption and enlarge the scale of analysis from single buildings to district scale, a new simulation method has been developed. The proposed coupling procedure links the microclimate software ENVI-met and the City Energy Analyst energy simulation tool and it is employed in the energy assessment of a urban re-development project in the city of Zurich, Switzerland. The results show that, considering microclimatic boundary conditions, the average hourly energy loads vary for daytime and night-time peaks and moreover a variation can be noticed in terms of total space heating and cooling consumption on the hottest and coldest day of a typical year.

Many offices have been renovated to improve building performance. However, the user’s perception after renovation has not been evaluated. This paper presents user satisfaction with indoor environmental quality in façade renovated offices in the Netherlands. The study explored the correlation between facade renovation strategies and indoor climate on the one hand and on the other hand user satisfaction and user preferences. Data were collected in four renovated offices in the Netherlands, which were adapted using different façade renovation strategies. The case study consisted of conducting online surveys and indoor climate monitoring for 2 weeks with loggers. Statistical results demonstrate that design factors such as desk location, workplace orientation, and layout have a strong correlation with user satisfaction of IEQ, unlike window types. The suggested essential design factors for user satisfaction can guide architects and designers to better understand users’ preferences and to reflect on office design.

Two independent surveys were conducted in 2017 and in 2018 among architecture students across Europe to investigate their knowledge on daylighting and the impact of that knowledge on the visual perception of daylit spaces. A total of 600 responders were involved. This paper presents findings from the second survey, which was distributed in six European countries. Based on the findings from the first survey, a new goal was set for the second survey: to examine how daylighting knowledge may influence the visual perception of it and how the perception of a daylit space by a student population and by experts compare to each other. Three main findings were observed: i) the perceived comfort shows a better agreement with mood than with sky condition; ii) the judgments expressed by the experts and by non-experts are consistent with each other, confirming an outcome of the earlier study and iii) there is a lack of knowledge about daylighting metrics and regulations as well as a difficulty in implementing daylighting into the design process. These outcomes highlight the relevance of reconsidering the way daylighting education is delivered in current architectural programmes.

This paper presents five design prototypes for cool urban water environments developed in the 'Really cooling water bodies in cities' (REALCOOL) project. The REALCOOL prototypes address an urgent need: urban water bodies, such as ponds or canals, are often assumed to cool down their surroundings during days with heat stress, whereas recent research shows that this is not always the case and that urban water bodies may actually have warming effects too. There are, however, indications that shading, vaporising water, and proper ventilation can keep water bodies and their surroundings cooler. Yet, it is necessary to explore how these strategies can be optimally combined and how the resulting design guidelines can be communicated to design professionals. The REALCOOL prototypes communicate the spatial layout and biometeorological effects of such combinations and assist design decisions dealing with urban water environments. The micrometeorological simulations with Envi­met showed that the prototypes led to local reductions on daytime PET from 1 °C to 7 °C, upon introducing shade. Water mist and fountains were also cooling solutions. The important role of ventilation was confirmed. The paper discusses and concludes about the use of the prototypes as tools for urban design practice.

With the aim of reducing carbon emissions and increasing hygrothermal comfort, buildings across the UK are undergoing energy retrofits. With historic buildings, it is important that retrofit actions have a limited negative impact on the building’s fabric and cultural significance. Work to date in the UK has focused on the retrofit of historic solid masonry construction, with little research into the retrofit of historic timber-framed buildings. Changes to these buildings must be managed through the use of established conservation principles. However, where infill panels are beyond repair or have previously been substituted with inappropriate materials, there exists the potential to retrofit a material with a higher thermal performance. Nonetheless, it must be ensured that this retrofit does not create interstitial hygrothermal conditions that could threaten the survival of surrounding historic fabric. In this paper the authors present the hygrothermal simulation and physical monitoring of three different potential replacement infill panels. Results from Glaser calculations, WUFI® Pro and WUFI® 2D are compared to measured results of physical test panels mounted between two climate-controlled chambers. Whilst all three prediction methods successfully identified interstitial condensation where it was measured to occur, major discrepancies existed both between simulated and measured results, and between different simulation methods.

Free to read on publisher's website Providing access to a view out is fundamental for ensuring healthy living conditions in indoor spaces; however, there are no procedures for capturing luminous variations of a view over time. The study introduces a dynamic method for quantifying such variables through HDR time-lapse photography and digital image-processing techniques. Two series with analogous contextual features portrayed three consistent luminous variability conditions. Local luminous variation suggests the highest potential to influence visual response. Finally, the paper discusses design implications and future refinements to the methodology.

This case study applies life-cycle assessment methods to the preliminary design of an office building in order to quantify the benefits achieved when reusing its load-bearing components. Results show that the production of the load-bearing system would account for 40% of the global warming potential indicator. The slabs are responsible for 65% of the environmental impacts among all structural elements and should be considered for reuse first. Compared to traditional constructions built from first-use material, a fictitious reuse of undamaged load-bearing components over three consecutive use cycles would reduce the global warming potential indicator by 25%. The global warming potential of reuse is eventually computed according to three repartition methods, highlighting the need to separate the life-cycle footprints related to production, use, and end-of-life more systematically.

The study investigated potentials of rice husk ash as a replacement for Ordinary Portland Cement in the production of Compressed Earth Block (CEB) with a view to reducing building construction cost and the embodied energy of the blocks in the context of Nigeria. Graded levels (i.e. 10, 20, 30 and 40%) of RHA replaced cement in the mix for CEB moulding. The results of X-ray diffraction showed that RHA contained 80% SiO2. Also, the results of the compressive strength, water absorption capacity, and bulk density testing indicated that low compressive strength, high water absorption capacity, and low bulk density exhibited by RHA-CEB make doubtful the suitability of RHA as a partial replacement for Ordinary Portland cement in the building construction in the wet regions. However, RHA could find useful application as a stabilizing agent in CEB rather than as a partial replacement of cement.

Radiant heating and cooling systems have the potential to save energy and are widely used in zero net energy buildings. Their positive and negative impacts on indoor environmental quality and, in particular, thermal comfort compared to all-air systems are still debated in the literature. This paper presents indoor environmental quality survey results from 3,892 respondents in 60 office buildings located in North America. 34 (2,247 respondents) of these buildings utilized all-air systems and 26 (1,645 respondents) utilized radiant systems as primary conditioning system. Our results indicate that radiant and all-air buildings have equal indoor environmental quality, including acoustic performance, with a tendency towards improved temperature satisfaction in radiant buildings.